In the Sheikh's Marriage Bed by Sarah Morgan

Author:Sarah Morgan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2004-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Emily sat on the sofa in a state of shock.

There was an extended silence while she tried several different ways to interpret his words. ‘Sorry?’

Zak frowned impatiently, clearly unaccustomed to repeating himself. ‘You will marry me,’ he said emphatically, his dark eyes gleaming with a satisfaction that she found impossible to comprehend. ‘It is the perfect solution for everyone.’

Emily stared, her heart thumping steadily. ‘Why would you possibly want to marry me?’

‘I need a wife,’ he said calmly, delivering that statement in a tone more suited to announcing changes in the stock market. ‘It is time. It would be a business arrangement, naturally.’

Naturally.

The dreams melted away and Emily scolded herself for even expecting to hear anything different.

She was letting a few hot kisses fuel her imagination.

‘Right.’ She gave a wan smile. ‘Well, that’s romantic.’

He frowned sharply. ‘We are not talking about romance.’

‘Obviously not.’

‘Remember your fairy tales,’ he urged silkily, gripping the tops of her arms with both hands and giving her a little shake. ‘You get to marry the prince. What more could you want?’

Love?

‘We’ve been reading different fairy tales,’ she said flatly and he gave an all-male shrug that clearly dismissed the detail.

‘This is a modern version.’

‘Maybe I have a defective memory,’ she muttered, ‘but I don’t remember a single fairy tale where the prince marries the girl because the clock is ticking. That’s a new one.’

‘There will be enormous benefits for you,’ he volunteered generously, and she looked at him, wondering how there could possibly be a benefit to marrying a man who didn’t love her.

‘Offhand, I can’t think of any.’

‘You will have access to enormous wealth.’

‘I don’t care about money. Money just causes problems.’

Surprise flickered in those dark eyes but, with the ease of a skilled negotiator, he swiftly changed tack. ‘My father will give you the title of princess. From the day of our marriage you will be permitted to walk by my side.’

Emily glanced down at his long, powerful legs. ‘Generally I can’t keep up with you—you walk too fast.’

He gritted his teeth. ‘Why are you joking about this?’

‘Because you can’t possibly be serious.’

‘I am deadly serious and you should know that I have never offered marriage to a woman before.’

Realizing that she was supposed to feel honoured by that announcement, Emily frowned. ‘Well, you didn’t exactly offer it to me,’ she pointed out. ‘You sort of ordered me to marry you. “You will marry me,” were your exact words. I suppose you think that you’re such a catch that nothing would induce a girl to refuse.’

‘I will cancel your brother’s debt,’ he replied immediately, displaying all the cool purpose of a man intent on bringing a difficult business negotiation to a speedy and satisfactory conclusion.

His words silenced her more effectively than a gag. She opened her mouth and closed it again.

‘You would cancel the debt?’

‘Yes.’

‘But he owes you eight million pounds.’

‘On the day of our marriage that debt would be erased.’

Eight million pounds. Eight million pounds. She stared at him, mute. ‘You’d pay that much money to marry me?’

‘I need a wife.

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